Beginnings
by TellMeMore90
Summary: Series 1 Episode 1. What happened on the journey to Forest of Dean, and a moment of enchantment.


**Disclaimer: Primeval and its characters belong to Impossible Pictures. No copyright infringement is intended.**

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**Beginnings**

The journey to the Forest of Dean had been largely uneventful. Professor Cutter had been fixated on the road, his grip on the steering wheel slightly tighter than was necessary. Stephen Hart seemed … tense was perhaps the best word. He had that twitchiness of anticipation like a child before Christmas.

Connor sat in the back seat and reviewed the newspaper article hoping to tease some extra clue from its well-read lines. When nothing further was forthcoming from the blurry image and sensationalist text, he tried to engage Professor Cutter in conversation, but the Professor was having none of it, his interest entirely on the road, or more likely their destination. Aside from a few grunts from the Professor it fell to Stephen to explain their particular field of interest.

"Hmmm, what is our branch of Evolutionary Zoology? Well to start with its not what you would call mainstream science. Most of the experts in our field think Cutter is a little ... obsessed, but that doesn't make it any less valid. Think of it as an offshoot of Evolutionary Biology but, as Cutter said, Connor, it's the bits that don't fit that interest us. Like the coelacanth that they discovered off the coast of South Africa in 1938."

"Yeah I know, _Latimeria chalumnae_ and the _Latimeria menadoensis_ of Indonesia both believed to have been extinct for 65 million years since the late Cretaceous."

Stephen seemed a little surprised. Most palaeontology students of his acquaintance didn't have quite such an encyclopaedic knowledge of their subject of study.

"Oh, don't be surprised. I've been keeping a database of all available facts and theories on all known extinct and supposed extinct species since I was 14 years old. I've collated all available information including supposed diet, habits, footprints … everything in fact. "

Stephen was impressed. "Yeah, well that's what fascinates us. There are an increasing number of instances of these anomalous sightings and it's getting harder to ignore. How there are some creatures that seem to have almost side-stepped evolution for no apparent reason – the Lazarus taxa. They just disappear from the fossil record and then suddenly re-appear in the modern world."

"Like Nessy." Connor grinned.

"Yeah like Nessy, _IF _the Loch Ness Monster was actually real instead of a story fabricated for tourists."

They lapsed into silence for a while as Stephen considered the boy behind him. He seemed remarkably young in some ways, but was obviously older than most of the students he dealt with … 22 or 23 Stephen would guess. As he was only two years into his palaeontology course there was obviously something else going on there.

"Connor, if you don't mind me asking, you seem, well, older than most of your class mates."

Connor flushed slightly. "Well, yeah. I'm 23. I couldn't go to Uni straight away. Mum's a widow you see and we didn't have the money. Dad's death left us with some pretty bad debt so I had to get that sorted and earn a bit to be going on with. I went to work for a local engineering company for a couple of years to earn enough cash to keep Mum going. I invented a couple of gadgets for them and improved a few of their existing components – enough for them to pay me a good bonus. It cleared the debt and left both Mum and me enough to live on while I'm at Uni, if I'm careful."

Stephen was looking at the lad with unabashed surprise. Uncomfortable with the scrutiny Connor gave a half smile, shrugged and continued.

"I'm pretty good at maths, and IT, oh and engineering of course. Luckily I'm pretty smart so the Central Met agreed to keep my place open until I was ready. I think they hoped I would opt for some sort of maths or IT degree, but palaeontology has always been my first love. They tried to talk me out of it, but when you have a passion you have to follow it through, yeah. I guess people thinking you're a genius helps to keep a few doors open that would normally be closed."

"Genius?" Stephen sounded surprised. How had he not known that this boy he and Cutter had been tutoring for the last two years was supposed to be a genius? When Cutter chose to turn up of course, which was never. It was probably in Connor's student profile, which, of course, Cutter would never have read, or passed on to his assistant.

"Yeah, that's what they tell me. Can't see it meself, but if it gets me where I want to be I'm not arguing." Connor gave a sheepish grin.

"And where do you want to be?"

"Dunno exactly, but I think that right here might be a pretty good start. I love palaeontology, and I think Professor Cutter's theories are brilliant. I'd love to help you guys prove some of them."

Stephen looked long and hard at the strange boy in the oversized charity shop clothes, fingerless gloves and trilby. He behaved like a big kid, but underneath there was ... something.

Feeling a little uncomfortable and unused to Stephen's appraising stare, Connor changed the subject. "So Helen Cutter disappeared in the Forest. Is it OK to talk about her in front of the Professor or would you prefer not?"

"No it's OK. Yeah, she was up here investigating reports of a large predator. Normally she would have written it off as just another hoax, but there were a few strange incidents in the area that piqued her interest." Stephen seemed almost shifty, like there was something he wasn't saying.

Cutter grunted again. Stephen took this as his cue to shut up. He shrugged and gave a half smile at Connor before turning in his seat to face the road. Connor pulled out his DS and spent the rest of the journey killing vampires.

-0-0-0-

They'd been in the Forest of Dean for several hours. They'd seen the slashed truck, the crushed fence and the cow in the tree. Somewhere along the line they had checked into a local hotel. Cutter said the University would cover the room bill which suited Connor, hotel rooms not being high on his list of essential student expenditure, unlike food. "Stay out of the mini bar and no room service or porn." Cutter growled at the bemused student. Stephen just grinned.

Also, Cutter had managed to pick up a Government agent in the hotel bar. She _said_ she was a junior civil servant from the Home Office but Connor knew when something was going on. He felt a cover-up. He kept checking the cut of Claudia Brown's suit looking for the tell-tale bulge of a gun. Tom and Duncan were going to be so jealous.

After grabbing a quick meal they were back in the Forest following Stephen who was tracking something large. He was like a hunter from one of those old black and white movies that used to be on TV on Saturday mornings. All he was missing was the hat and the rifle.

Night had fallen as they approached the creature. They'd seen it in the distance, a giant bulk in the darkness of the forest, larger than any indigenous species. They hadn't noticed the petite blonde stood with her back to a tree, something small huddled and chirping in her arms.

Connor's eyes were drawn to the anapsid, it's massive body overwhelming his senses. It looked for all the world like a Scutosaurus but how was that possible – a creature from the Permian era? On the other hand, something this big couldn't have lived in the forest for centuries without detection. He broke into a grin.

Then he caught sight of her. Her delicate features and cropped blonde hair – almost white, almost elfish. Everything else vanished from his mind.

That's what she was, an elf from Lothlórien. He felt his mouth go dry and his heart still in his chest. He tried to draw his eyes back to the giant prehistoric creature stood before him in all its living glory, but all he could see was her. He was enchanted. She filled his brain and his heart with her beauty. He felt a quantum shift in his being. Everything had just changed.

Stephen had seen her too. Connor sensed Stephen's hunter instincts, already heightened by the chase, coming to the fore. His stance changed and his body tensed. Stephen had obviously located prey, something to tame and possess. To Connor she was a glorious maiden to be cherished and honoured.

Connor felt a tremble of something in his soul that he couldn't quite put his finger on. It felt almost primal, a stirring of his masculine need to protect. Two males having spotted a potential mate and preparing to stake their claim. This was a new sensation to Connor. He'd had girlfriends before but never seriously enough to have a rival, but if he had to compete for her attention he would. She was worth fighting for, even dying for.

She was introducing herself to the Professor. "Abby Maitland. I'm a keeper from Wellington Zoo." Abby, her name was Abby. He felt the name roll round his mouth, round his tongue and bury itself deep in his brain.

Then she stood up to the Professor, told him he was doing the wrong thing. "Stay in his field of vision. You're making him nervous." She wasn't cowed by his intellect or his authority, and she knew that in this she was the expert. She was fearless. She was Galadriel incarnate!

At that moment Connor Temple knew he was lost. He knew absolutely that, whatever other strange wonders this day threw at him, this was the moment that would define the rest of his life. Unconsciously his fingers wrapped themselves around the ring that hung on a cord from his neck.

He also knew, without a shadow of doubt that he belonged to Abby Maitland body and soul. Pleasing her was his purpose. Keeping her safe and making her happy would be his life. There could be no nobler calling.

This was his quest and his destiny until his dying breath. After all, when you have a passion you have to follow it, yeah.

**THE START**


End file.
